Oleksandr Svishchov: Water Polo Federations from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and other countries accepted Ukrainian children
"It is clear that now, when there is a war, it is impossible to hold water polo championships in Ukraine for men and women. Many players are not physically present in their cities. For example, athletes from Kharkov serve in the Armed Forces or the Territorial Defense Forces, as well as the team from the Kiev region. Non-servicemen do volunteer work, go on night duty and cooperate with humanitarian headquarters in Lviv. The situation in the Women's Highest League is also difficult: their main bases are in Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Kyiv. The great majority of our girls have gone abroad," – the head of the federation stated.
Svishchov reminded that the former captain of the Ukrainian national water polo team Yevhen Obedinsky died in Mariupol because of the shelling.
"He was not only a talented water polo player and master of sports, but also a good understanding person, a great life-lover. And his daughter is only now being rescued from Russian captivity. We also miss another water polo player, Oleg Golodnikov. The memory of these wonderful guys will stay in our hearts forever," – he wrote.
The head of the federation said that in the first weeks of the war it was managed to help children and young people to evacuate to safe places and, if possible, to continue training.
"Fortunately, quite a few federations responded: from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Germany, Italy, Romania and other countries. They offered the best conditions for our children, and young water polo players still stay abroad, where they have good living conditions and constant opportunities for active training," – he wrote.
Svishchov said that the organization is sending letters to Poland, Slovakia, Georgia and Turkey asking for them to declare a team of Ukrainian juniors ages 16 to 19 for one of their championships.
"It is very important to preserve the core skeleton of young water polo players who will be the main players of the Ukrainian national team in the future. And recently the Ukraine U-19 national women's water polo team performed very well at the European Championship in Israel: Oleksandra Mironenko's charges got a convincing 13-8 victory over the British team in Netanya. Despite the complexity of preparation and lack of full cycle of training, our girls show themselves very decent during this championship. Regardless of the results they are already great!" – he is convinced.
"It is clear that now, when there is a war, it is impossible to hold water polo championships in Ukraine for men and women. Many players are not physically present in their cities. For example, athletes from Kharkov serve in the Armed Forces or the Territorial Defense Forces, as well as the team from the Kiev region. Non-servicemen do volunteer work, go on night duty and cooperate with humanitarian headquarters in Lviv. The situation in the Women's Highest League is also difficult: their main bases are in Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Kyiv. The great majority of our girls have gone abroad," – the head of the federation stated.
Svishchov reminded that the former captain of the Ukrainian national water polo team Yevhen Obedinsky died in Mariupol because of the shelling.
"He was not only a talented water polo player and master of sports, but also a good understanding person, a great life-lover. And his daughter is only now being rescued from Russian captivity. We also miss another water polo player, Oleg Golodnikov. The memory of these wonderful guys will stay in our hearts forever," – he wrote.
The head of the federation said that in the first weeks of the war it was managed to help children and young people to evacuate to safe places and, if possible, to continue training.
"Fortunately, quite a few federations responded: from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Germany, Italy, Romania and other countries. They offered the best conditions for our children, and young water polo players still stay abroad, where they have good living conditions and constant opportunities for active training," he wrote.
Svishchov said that the organization is sending letters to Poland, Slovakia, Georgia and Turkey asking for them to declare a team of Ukrainian juniors ages 16 to 19 for one of their championships.
"It is very important to preserve the core skeleton of young water polo players who will be the main players of the Ukrainian national team in the future. And recently the Ukraine U-19 national women's water polo team performed very well at the European Championship in Israel: Oleksandra Mironenko's charges got a convincing 13-8 victory over the British team in Netanya. Despite the complexity of preparation and lack of full cycle of training, our girls show themselves very decent during this championship. Regardless of the results they are already great!" – he is convinced.
He also noted that the Ukrainian men's team, the students of the Lviv University of Physical Education will go to the Universiade in Lodz, Poland, also the world championship among water polo players under 16 years old will be held in Greece with the participation of Ukrainian athletes.
"The war continues, and it has affected all fields in Ukraine, including sports, particularly water polo. In Kharkiv and Mariupol, where there were strong water polo schools, swimming pools have been destroyed, and the development of water polo in these cities is difficult or even impossible. But I look at the future with optimism. We will definitely win, we will rebuild our cities and our sports infrastructure. We will build modern sports complexes with swimming pools and bring Ukrainian water polo to a new level. The whole world will hear about the Ukrainian water polo players!" – Oleksandr Svishev wrote.